A tale of two (Cleveland) mustards: Bertman's or Stadium? Best Hot Dog contest

Posted June 22, 2017 at 3:55 PM

Joseph Bertman, a Polish immigrant, came to Cleveland as a child with his parents. He began the company Bertman Foods Company in a garage at the family home at East 147th Street near Kinsman. Legend has it that Bertman "accidentally" invented his mustard while trying to create another food. It was originally sold at League Park.

Joseph Bertman, a Polish immigrant, came to Cleveland as a child with his parents. He began the company Bertman Foods Company in a garage at the family home at East 147th Street near Kinsman. Legend has it that Bertman "accidentally" invented his mustard while trying to create another food. It was originally sold at League Park.(Photo courtesy Bertman Foods Co.)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC), 71 percent of Americans who eat hot dogs say they top their hot dogs with mustard. And if Cleveland baseball fans are the judge, mustard is high on their choice of toppings as well.

Concession officials at Progressive Field said mustard is the condiment most in need of refilling during games.

Check back at cleveland.com/best to find out the results of the reader panel of taste testers and the ultimate winner on June 29.

A tale of two mustards

Both Stadium and Bertman lay claim to the specialty mustard's invention.

Stadium Mustard is the official mustard of FirstEnergy Stadium and the company's website touts it is featured at 150 stadiums and arenas throughout the United States. It has been served to astronauts on the Space Shuttle.

The company was founded in 1920 by Joseph Bertman, who was born in Poland, and came to Cleveland as a child with his parents. He began the company in a garage at the Bertman home at East 147th Street near Kinsman, where spices and pickles were processed and packaged.

The firm relocated to 653 E. 103th Street by the mid-1930s, and was then known as the Bertman Pickle Co. Bertman's Original Ball Park Mustard is the company's best known product.

He was an old-fashioned business man. If one of his customers wanted something he did not have available, he would go out to his garage and "concoct" something that would do the trick. There are many family legends about this. And according to those legends, Bertman's mustard was a "happy accidental invention" -- the result of Bertman trying to satisfy a customer's whim.

Bertman himself said Cleveland Stadium was his first customer in 1932, but some sources indicate the mustard was first sold at League Park baseball games in 1938.

Until the early 1970s it was only sold in gallons, but is now carried in supermarkets.

Stadium Mustard

David Dwoskin, president of Davis Foods Company, which claims to have made Stadium Mustard since the 1800s, says on the mustard's website that he first discovered the mustard when his father took him to a game at Cleveland Stadium when he was 12.

"I don't remember who was playing, but I do remember biting into my first hot dog with this delicious brown mustard on it. This was part of growing up in Cleveland. For more than 50 years, this mustard was served at the old Stadium, a true Cleveland tradition.

"Thirty years ago I made that same mustard available in supermarkets and gave it a name - The Authentic Stadium Mustard, named after the Cleveland Stadium." Both mustards apparently enjoy wide distribution. Dwoskin says his mustard is served in 150 stadiums in the United States. Pat Mazoh, Bertman's daughter, mentions Ohio Turnpike plazas and hot dog restaurants in a couple of states. Locally, the mustards are sold in grocery stores and specialty food shops.

Each owner lays dibs to the original mustard formula. Neither side admits to waging mustard war. But the debate goes on.

For those of us who grew up on the North Coast, or just frequent local sporting events, the debate rages on. Ask a die-hard fan of one, or the other, mustard and they will say there is a decided difference in the taste.